Sitting is the new Smoking

January 26, 2023February 24, 2023 ~ Loreeebee ~ 3 Comments

Have you heard? Sitting is the new smoking, in terms of what is bad for us that is. What is really ironic is that this advice comes to us in the midst of a pandemic lockdown where we have been advised to sit on our couch and stay at home.

We (should) all know why smoking is bad for us by now, that is nothing new. Although many people continue to smoke, research has been telling us for years of the damages smoking causes to our bodies.

Why is Sitting Bad for us?

Harvard Medical School reports that sitting is unhealthy for the following reasons:

it relaxes your largest muscles. Even if you’re reasonably active, hours of sitting—whether reading a book, working on the computer, or watching TV—tighten the hip flexor and hamstring muscles and stiffen the joints themselves. Overly tight hip flexors and hamstrings affect gait and balance, making activities like walking harder and perhaps even setting you up for a fall. Plus, tight hip flexors and hamstrings may contribute to lower back pain and knee stiffness, scourges that many people suffer with every day.

So, how can we Flex our Muscles Instead?

We can flex our relaxed and tightened muscles by consciously adding more activity into our daily routines. Many of us working from home are expected to spend the day on our computers. If you cannot remember to do so, set a timer to remind you to get up and move around more. Here are a few suggestions of things you can do to ensure those muscles are not stiffening up:

Answer or make your phone calls while standing up. Walk around while you talk
If working from home on a computer for extended amounts of time, get an adjustable computer desk so you can stand up while working.
Sit on a stability ball, instead of in an armchair while watching TV. This activates your core muscles as you try to stay upright. You might not want to try this while using your computer.
If your joints are aching, find exercises to keep the joints loose. Aching joints are a vicious circle, the less you move them the achier they get, but the achier they are the harder it is to exercise them.
If you have multiple levels in your home, make a point of using the stairs as you walk around. I used to leave stuff on the steps to take upstairs in one trip, but now I go up every time. Sometimes I forget why I went up, but I do go up!
Find online exercise routines to follow if you are used to going to the gym.
Take up yoga, starting with beginner poses (find them online too). Work your way up to the more complicated (flexibility required) ones.

My personal in-house exercises are planks, high knees, squats, lunges, and yoga poses. I do most of these on a regular basis in the winter months when my garden business is literally buried under the snow.

Of course, if you can, get outside for your exercise, even in the winter. Fresh air and sunshine are more than just good for your muscles. They are also good for your mental health, immune system, and more.

Back to School in Five More Sleeps

February 3, 2021January 30, 2022 ~ Loreeebee ~ 2 Comments

My granddaughter is going back to school in five more sleeps. For real, in class school. She has been learning online since last March, almost a year now. Since September she has been coming here for school on the days her Mom goes to work.

She is very excited to be heading back, over the moon in fact. Grandma, not so much. Of course, I am happy she is happy, but I will miss her and the quality time we have spent together these past months. It has been a bright spot for me throughout our pandemic restrictions.

We have settled into a comfortable daily routine before, during, between, and after her online lessons. Classes start at 9am with her school day ending around 330pm. That’s a long day for a seven year old, and an over sixty year old, but we manage to sneak some fun into our day.

Card Games

When she arrives around 630am, we start our day with several rounds of cards, while I sip from my first cup of coffee. She has learned, and is now quite proficient at, the games of Concentration, Go Fish and Crazy Eights. So proficient in fact that she beats me often, without me having to let her win. She is very competitive, so winning is important and losing results in a pout and a demanded rematch. I look at these games as exercise for my short term memory.

Stretches and Yoga

After she has won enough card games, we get into stretches and yoga poses. As a competitive gymnast, she knows and excels at all the warm up stretches. Grandma can keep up for a little while, until the planks last longer than a minute or she tries to shape me into a human pretzel.

Reading Books

We have been reading lots too. She reads Mia Mayhem to me, and I read Harry Potter to her.

Mia Mayhem is a series of books appropriate for her age and reading level, but even more special because she shares her name with the super hero star of the series. Santa was very clever to pick those books out for her.

Harry Potter, I would imagine, needs no explanation or introduction. She loves the Harry Potter saga so much that she dressed up as Hermoine for Hallowe’en.

Culinary Treats

Concocting treats in the kitchen has been popular too with an endless supply of cookies, muffins and even Daddy’s favourite candy for Grandma’s counter and freezer. With doggie bags for her to take some home too of course.

Fresh fruit smoothies and breakfast pancakes are other favourites too. Oh, and she doesn’t let me forget an ice cream treat after her last lesson of the day, before she starts the independent learning hour.

Today, in honour of her last day at Grandma’s school house, we went to Dairy Queen for their Blizzard BOGO event.

Outdoor Time

We also get outdoors for some fresh air and sunshine every day, so important in winter. Before the snow and cold weather arrived we spent our outdoor time predominantly in my gardens, with a few treks to the gardens I tend at our local hospice.

These past few months, since our gardens are covered in snow, our outdoor time has evolved to include walks in the snow, shoveling the snow or playing in it and with it.

Cultivating her Green Thumb

Even though we had to postpone our gardening adventures outside, we did spend time perusing garden catalogues, choosing new and interesting plants and seeds for spring planting. We also tend the seeds and cuttings we planted last fall, that now take up the entire counter area in my basement.

This week she has also been helping me repot my existing houseplants and find new homes for the new ones that have just arrived. (keep your eyes out for my next post about houseplants) We also rescued a forlorn and partially frozen large tropical corn plant from a neighbour’s snowbank today, hopefully it will survive.

Piano Lessons

All my grandchildren appear to love my piano, but this granddaughter, as the eldest grandchild, is really showing interest and talent. She has worked her way through the kids books, recently attempting a more complicated book of Christmas carols. We had planned to perform a mini concert of these songs at our family Christmas gathering, but neither the concert or the concert happened, thanks to the current rules of the pandemic.

She did let me record her playing a few tunes though…

As you can imagine, our days together have been jam packed with activities, and school lessons too. Her computer skills are now amazing for her age and she is thriving online, although she does miss her friends.

I do understand the importance of developing social skills at this age. Sitting at a computer for close to 5 hours every day is not healthy for any child. (or adult for that matter)

Grandma will miss the quality time. But not the 6am alarm.

The Benefits of COVID-19

March 19, 2020April 11, 2023 ~ Loreeebee ~ 1 Comment

You wouldn’t think much good would come out of a pandemic but a few benefits of Covid-19 have emerged. Hopefully, these few good things will not disappear with the virus, if it ever does disappear that is.

Pollution

China is typically the world’s biggest polluter, contributing 30% of the world’s CO2 emissions annually. Pictures taken by NASA have been circulating depicting the increased air quality in China. In this first set of pictures, nitrogen dioxide emissions depicted by yellow clouds of toxic gas between January 1 and 20, have disappeared between February 10 and 25th.

Due to the reduction in burning fossil fuels (coal) in China during measures taken to contain COVID-19, the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has reported that CO2 emissions were down by at least 25% between February 3 and March 1. Good quality air days increased 22% in February due to the shutdown of power plants and factories as well as the lack of vehicles on the roads. Unlike 2019 and other years, the level of pollution in China did not rise in 2020 after the Chinese New Year.

With most of Italy in quarantine, their iconic waterways are getting cleaner. The air and water are less polluted since there is less vaporetti (public waterbuses) and other boat traffic than usual because of the restricted movement of residents. The re-emergence of dolphins, fish, and swans is exciting as they have not been seen in many years due to the polluted waters.

https://twitter.com/NotLacazetteNotLacazette

This amazing drop in emissions and the resultant fresh air and clean water is one of the huge benefits of Covid-19, but will it last? Now that they are recovering from the ravage of COVID-19, China is already talking about stimulus measures for factories and workers to ramp up their activity to boost their floundering economy.

Their populations might rebel though if China’s blue skies turn gray again and Italy’s waterways revert to a murky disgrace.

Humanitarian Gestures

Sometimes crisis brings out the best in people. Many heartwarming humanitarian gestures have been circulating with the COVID-19 virus. Online support groups have popped up on Facebook and other social media platforms where healthy volunteers are helping the not-so-fortunate or healthy. Grocery shopping, errand running, sharing of provisions as well as factual information; these do-gooders have been awesome. These benefits of covid-19 are amazing.

Family Time

With many parents forced to work from home while schools and daycares are closed, families have been spending more time together. Whether we are self-isolating, self-quarantined, or practicing social distancing, spending time with our families is currently the thing to do. Hectic schedules have been shut down with no running to and from jobs, errands, and extra-curricular activities. What a concept! Games, puzzles, home movies, and family dinners are suddenly popular again. What a shame it took something like a nasty virus to bring these examples of quality time to light. Hopefully, we can remember to schedule some of these irreplaceable moments into our lives when the restrictions are lifted and our lives return to normal.

More Fresh Air, Sunshine & Exercise are Covid-19 Benefits

One of the luxuries we have been allowed and encouraged to do with the isolation and social distancing practices is to get out into the great outdoors to enjoy fresh air, sunshine, and exercise. Science has proven that these freebies are key to staying healthy. If you didn’t already know or appreciate this, you may be learning it during this crisis.